Welcome to M.V Hospital for Diabetes, established by late Prof. M.Viswanathan, Doyen of Diabetology in India in 1954 as a general hospital. In 1971 it became a hospital exclusively for Diabetes care. It has, at present,100 beds for the treatment of diabetes and its complications.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Maintaining ideal weight is a very important task for good control of diabetes for people with Type 2 diabetes. Therefore the less alcohol they consume, the better they can control their weight.

Alcohol increases the appetite so people with diabetes may tend to overeat and this affects their efforts to keep blood glucose under control.

Alcohol can influence a person’s choice of food leading to consumption of the wrong kind of food.

3. Alcohol has a high caloric content and not many other nutrients. This is not really a good thing for people counting calories.

Alcohol tends to lower blood glucose. This is of great importance to people with diabetes who are on insulin.

Alcohol can interfere with or change the effects of medicines such as metformin and sulfonylureas which are used to treat diabetes. It can result in side effects from insulin use.

Some of the signs of too much alcohol such as flushing, nausea, increased heart rate, slurred speech are also symptoms of hypoglycaemia. People with diabetes may not be able to recognize a hypo and take the required action in time. People around them may not recognise a hypo but instead think that a person having a hypo has had too much to drink!

Heavy drinking can also cause a build-up of ketone bodies in people with diabetes, which can result in medical complications related to diabetes such as retinopathy and neuropathy says health psychologist Dr. Nicola Davies.

The effect of alcohol on diabetes varies considerably depending on whether it is consumed by well-nourished individuals when blood glucose levels are high or in a ‘fasting’ state when blood glucose levels are low.

Alcohol affects diabetes by causing insulin resistance and also affects insulin secretion in the body. Consuming too much alcohol can result in ‘alcohol induced insulin resistance’ which may lead to hyper glycaemia in well- nourished people with diabetes.

Consuming excess alcohol and not eating can cause blood glucose levels to drop resulting in ‘alcohol induced hypoglycaemia’. This can result in permanent neurological changes or even death.

But what if a person with diabetes is in a social situation such as a party, a wedding, a get- together or just enjoys an occasional drink?

Responsible drinking - What every person with diabetes should know:

Make sure your diabetes is well controlled, take the right precautions, know your boundaries, and most important of all … be aware of the effect of alcohol on diabetes.

Understand the importance of moderation or self- control and know how much you are allowed to drink and do not cross that line.

Eat before you have a drink to prevent a ‘hypo’

Have a non- alcoholic drink between drinks. Quench your thirst with water, not the alcohol.

Sip your drink. Don’t gulp it down.

If diabetes is being treated with insulin or sulfonylureas, do not drink immediately before or after exercise or physical activity because blood glucose falls naturally during exercise and there is a risk of a ‘hypo’.

People with Type 1 Diabetes mellitus need to calculate the carb content of both the drink and the food.

Do not mix alcohol and fruit juice as the calorie level goes up very high.

6-12 weeks after delivery, a follow up of 75 gm oral glucose tolerance test (GTT) should be performed to determine the women’s risk of developing diabetes and her status. If found normal , GTT should be repeated after 6 months and then after each year.

PREVENTION:

Women who have had gestational diabetes mellitus are at a heightened risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus and so the best advice is:

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California have shown that a single injection of a protein called Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF1) is enough to restore blood sugar levels to a healthy range for more than two days in mice with diet -induced diabetes (the same as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in humans). The research is in its early stages so how this happens is still not known but scientists know that it works in a similar way to the existing diabetes drugs- glitazones by making cells more sensitive to insulin and thereby reducing blood glucose levels.

Glitazones can have side effects such as weight gain or heart problems in humans but this is not the case with FGF1. Researchers found that FGF1 did not set off these side effects or cause glucose levels to drop to very low levels, a risk factor associated with many glucose-lowering agents. Instead, the injections restored the body's own ability to naturally regulate insulin and blood sugar levels, keeping glucose amounts within a safe range.

Once perfected, it can become a very safe and effective alternative to controlling diabetes.

About Me

Dr. Vijay Viswanathan, Managing Director, M.V. Hospital for Diabetes and Diabetes Research Centre, Royapuram, Chennai, India, a WHO Collaborating Centre for Education, Research and Training in Diabetes.
Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research, Education and Training in Diabetes.
MD in Internal Medicine and was awarded Gold medal in final MD examination.
Awarded Ph.D. in Medicine by Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Madras on the study of Diabetic Nephropathy in Type 2 Diabetes.
Has published over 150 original articles in peer reviewed International and National journals especially on Diabetic kidney diseases and Prevention of foot Amputation in Diabetes.
Organized 5 International Conferences on diabetic foot.